


graveyard crush

by good_day



Category: Fantastic Four, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb)
Genre: Crushes, Fluff, M/M, gwen's dead im really sorry, so are ben and peter's parents, so is franklin storm, sue and reed and ben are never on-screen sorry, this is set in a cemetery so they're all mentioned but not alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:15:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27663244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/good_day/pseuds/good_day
Summary: Franklin Storm has a headstone in a cemetery in Forest hills, Queens. Johnny Storm actually does like the quiet, sometimes. Peter Parker has too many dead.Friendships can last beyond the grave, and a teenage superhero has far too many people who know where he is all the time to be comfortable.alternatively: a forgotten crush is revisited about the right time for the boys to get their shit together
Relationships: Ben Grimm & Reed Richards & Johnny Storm & Susan Storm, Harry Osborn & Peter Parker & Gwen Stacy & Flash Thompson & Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker & Johnny Storm, Peter Parker/Gwen Stacy (past), Peter Parker/Johnny Storm
Comments: 10
Kudos: 65





	graveyard crush

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I saw the Spider-Man movies but I love the Andrew Garfield ones a lot and that's kinda what this Peter is based off of. I also haven't read many comics, so basically please excuse the fact that this might be super inaccurate. In this, Gwen died because of Spider-Man reasons, but Peter, Harry, MJ, and Flash (who made up with Peter at some point and was absolutely friends with Gwen) are friends and tend to catch-up as a tradition around Gwen's birthday. Peter used to intern for Reed and was friends with Johnny for a while there but then that ended.  
> Johnny and Sue are close, but Sue is An Adult to Johnny, and so Johnny avoids her at times. The cemetery is one of those ways. I'm not sure what canon reason I'm going with for why Franklin is dead, so you can choose. This is also completely your choice of Johnny (comics, old movies, more recent movies).  
> This is set in a cemetery kids, so it kinda does have sad undertones but it's supposed to be pretty fluffy. Hope I hit that.
> 
> Cool! Enjoy :D

Franklin Storm has a headstone in a cemetery in Forest Hills, Queens. Johnny Storm finds this out years before, but only remembers some time more recently. He goes and sits on the little bench right near the headstone and reads, or does crosswords like a grandma, or does homework (set for him by Reed and/or Sue).

He only goes when Sue's going to be out and Ben's around to watch the kids, because he doesn't want Sue to know (and he doesn't know why that is), but he takes the opportunity when he can. Usually once every couple of weeks, because there's something about the quiet; it's different from the Baxter Building's soundproofed rooms. 

Maybe it's that there's no possibility of someone walking in and making him talk. Maybe it's that you can't hear the birds and the traffic and the tourists and the everything-else in a soundproofed room, and they seem somehow muffled, but still there, in the cemetery. Maybe it's that cameras aren't allowed in the cemetery either (disrespectful); a chance to be outside without being bombarded by well-meaning tourists and press-- not that he doesn't enjoy that, but a break is nice. So he sits. He does his crosswords, or his homework, or reads. He leaves his phone off, most of the time, face-down, beside him on the bench.

It's a couple of months after he starts going that he first spots Peter Parker, (age 19, same as him, he checked the Bugle's website) Reed's ex-intern, somewhere on the other side of the cemetery. There are lots of little hedges in the way, but if Johnny leans to the left, he can see straight through to where Parker's sitting in the dirt, fresh flowers in his lap, talking to a headstone. Johnny looks away before he sees much more than that. He usually leaves long before Peter does, and he's grateful that seemingly he's never been noticed, and therefore never needs to engage in small talk; he's not there because he feels like engaging in small talk. Alternatively, he thinks, maybe Parker has noticed him, and has just not said anything because he's not there for small talk either.

M̶a̶y̶b̶e̶ ̶J̶o̶h̶n̶n̶y̶ ̶k̶e̶e̶p̶s̶ ̶g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶w̶a̶t̶c̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶t̶t̶y̶ ̶b̶o̶y̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶s̶k̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶d̶a̶t̶e̶.̶

(Peter 𝘩𝘢𝘴 noticed him, actually. He waits for Johnny to leave before wrapping up his conversation with his parents and uncle and heading over to see Gwen. Out of consideration. Or something. Definitely not because he'll get in a ten foot radius of Johnny and become a blushing mess with a stupid crush that still hasn't gone away. What? No. Not him.)

It's months after that, after spotting Parker there more often, too, now that he's looking, when he's sitting cross-legged on the bench one afternoon and Peter starts heading over. Johnny's terrified for a moment that Peter wants to actually 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 to him, but he just plops down in the dirt by a headstone, (ruining his jeans forever), a box of donuts in one hand and a bunch of yellow roses in the other. Johnny hears,

"Hey, Gwen, baby, how've you been?" before he tunes him out.

S̶t̶a̶c̶y̶'̶s̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶c̶l̶o̶s̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶S̶t̶o̶r̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶P̶a̶r̶k̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶s̶,̶ ̶a̶f̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶.̶

About half an hour after Parker's dropped down nearer than usual, a red-headed lady who Johnny hasn't seen before wanders in, a bag of bagels in her hand and a bunch of yellow tulips under her arm. Parker's head turns, and his face lights up. "MJ!" he exclaims.

"Hey, Tiger, Gwendy," he gets in response. Johnny tries to tune them both out this time.

Another ten minutes passes. A dark-haired man in a suit stumbles over to Parker and the red-head. He's got cookies, and yellow pansies.

"Parker, Gwendolyne."

"Osborn."

Parker and Osborn laugh.

"Harry, darling, we're so glad you came," says Red-head.

"Lovely to see you too, Mary Jane." They all beam, mostly to each other, partly to the headstone.

Johnny, once again, tunes them out, and proceeds to spend the next five minutes wondering why Peter Parker, nerdy kinda-asshole k̶i̶n̶d̶a̶-̶g̶o̶r̶g̶e̶o̶u̶s̶ ̶k̶i̶n̶d̶a̶-̶s̶w̶e̶e̶t̶ ̶k̶i̶n̶d̶a̶-̶c̶h̶a̶r̶m̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶k̶i̶n̶d̶a̶-̶l̶o̶v̶e̶l̶y̶ photographer, Mary Jane Watson, talented and little-yet-known actress, and Harry Osborn, (presumably, given his father) stuck-up asshole and heir to a huge fucking company, are meeting up in a graveyard.

The next five minutes, that is, until a tall, extremely buff blonde in combat boots and stiff jeans sprawls out next to them, placing his sandwiches on the ground in the middle of their little circle.

"Thompson, my guy, didn't know you were in town."

"Like I'd miss our Stacy's special day, Har."

Johnny continues to try to tune them out, out of respect mostly, but sue him, he's curious about this odd group of friends meeting in a cemetery on a Wednesday afternoon, so he glances up and watches them probably more than he should. Johnny's very proud of the fact that he manages to never catch anyone's eye.

He sees Blondie hand over a bunch of yellow carnations he'd brought, and watches Parker gently and carefully arrange them in a little blue vase, along with all the other flowers, and set them on the grass by the headstone. It's very…. yellow. Kinda pretty. (̶P̶e̶t̶e̶r̶'̶s̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶t̶t̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶.̶ ̶W̶a̶i̶t̶,̶ ̶n̶o̶,̶ ̶s̶h̶u̶t̶ ̶u̶p̶,̶ ̶J̶o̶h̶n̶n̶y̶'̶s̶ ̶b̶r̶a̶i̶n̶.̶ ̶W̶e̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶.̶)̶

They chat away for the rest of the afternoon, eating their food, including and smiling sadly at the headstone from time to time.

Osborn leaves first, standing and brushing off his obviously expensive trousers. He'd sat on a blanket. Smart man. He says something about a meeting, waves at the friends and the headstone, and disappears. If Johnny leans, he can see him be driven away in a very fancy car. They all agree to meet for brunch the next morning, in a way that makes it seem as though that was tradition, and what they'd already planned to do.

Blondie runs off not long after Osborn, citing wanting to see his sister before he leaves the city again tomorrow evening.

Mary-Jane spends a little longer sitting with Parker, chatting more and more sparsely until seemingly their conversation runs out and they just sit, her head on his shoulder, staring in silence at the headstone. She traces the edge with a finger, drops a kiss on Parker's forehead, picks herself up, and leaves.

It's after the others are gone, when the cemetery is once again quiet and still, and Johnny has turned back to the homework he hasn't made nearly enough progress on, that Parker walks up to him. He's got the last donut in the box in his outstretched hand.

"Do you want it?" he asks. Johnny stares up at him. He's as annoyingly pretty as remembered. "Sorry," Parker says, "I know it's been a while. I should've probably started that off nicer. Um. How are you? Do you mind if I sit down? Fine if not, uh, we don't have to talk, sorry I can just--"

Johnny finally snaps out of it. 

"It's fine. Sit. It's, uh, good to see you." They're both blushing. Why are they both blushing? He takes the donut. "Thank you. Um, I'm doing ok. Haven't died fighting Doom yet, so that's a plus. You?" God, this is why he hates small talk. 𝘈𝘸𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥.

They sit and talk a little. It's…. kinda nice. It reminds Johnny of his stupid crush on Peter from when he was actually Reed's intern, and he's annoyed at himself for not being over it. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Should have just told him to piss off.

But then.

Peter, smiling at him, saying he needs to leave, but, hey, uh, could they maybe get coffee sometime? Johnny, smiling back, saying yes. Heart lighter as he watches Peter walk away than when he walked to the cemetery that day after lunch, wanting to just get away from all the noise and business of a tower with three super-powered adults watching him, wanting some quiet. He got less quiet than expected, but more smiles. Pocket heavier, a phone number scribbled on a piece of paper in that messy scrawl that Johnny can't believe he nearly forgot.

Maybe something good came from Johnny being quiet, for once. Don't tell Sue, she'll never let it go.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, like, ever, and it was sitting in my docs for months after I finished it before I got enough courage to put it on here, so I hope you liked it! :)
> 
> It's kind of always been a headcanon of mine that Peter brings specific colours of flowers for the different people he visits, according to what he knows/thinks their favourite was. I saw a fic one time where he brought specifically yellow flowers for Gwen and it stuck in my head. The idea of Franklin Storm having a headstone in Queens is probably canon absolutely nowhere but I thought of it and how well it'd work and then couldn't let it go. It's fiction, nothing's real anyway.
> 
> find me on tumblr: @idiot-business  
> Thanks to my parabatai (you know who you are bro) who is amazing and inspiring and brilliant all round; I would legit never do anything at all without her.


End file.
